During the half-term break, Cottingham High School staff and students explored the slopes of Switzerland to put their skiing skills to the test.

With a bright and early start on Sunday 12th February, our staff and students prepared for their trip to Leysin, Switzerland, including a very smooth coach journey from France to Leysin where they stopped for a well deserved coffee/hot chocolate with a croissant for their breakfast!

On Thursday 9 February, Cottingham High School and Sixth Form College held its annual Careers Alternative Curriculum Day. Students in Years 7 to 11 attended careers related workshops, many of which were delivered by visiting employers and employees – including Trust Central Services staff. The purpose of the day was to help students develop their employability and enterprise skills, whilst learning about career paths and local labour market information from visiting professionals. Whilst the event primarily focused on older year students, the Year 7s even had the chance to talk about Astrophysics with Hull University staff and experience their Planetarium. For Year 11, the goal was to prepare them for their ‘Next Steps’ and support them with making applications and interview skills. Staff from the Trust, along with other local professionals, were on hand to conduct mock interviews for students to give them that real life experience. The feedback from staff showed that they valued the day and enjoyed the time spent with students.  

On Friday 10 February, Holderness Academy & Sixth Form College held their annual Mock Interview Day for Year 11 students. Throughout the morning, students were given the opportunity to practise their interview skills with external companies from across Hull and the East Riding. Almost thirty organisations and businesses attended the event including Humberside Police, the NHS, The Tigers Trust, DVAP, Centrica, Cranswick and many more.

Justin Robert from Humberside Police supported the event and said, ‘The young adults were really well-prepared and clearly found the experience really beneficial.’

At the end of the mock interviews, students attended an awards assembly, where each of the companies nominated a student that they would ‘hire’ for the position they had been interviewed for, and they received a congratulatory certificate.

Carl Palmer from Humberside Police added ‘Students were really well-organised, and they got a lot from it. Most of the students deserved to have gained a position, given the amount of preparation they had done.’

Megan Hornby, who is currently a contestant on this year’s The Apprentice, was a guest speaker for the Year 11s and motivated students with her account of her experiences both at school and with her current career progression. Megan has successfully set up her own business and applied for The Apprentice to further her career as a young entrepreneur. She gave students advice on how to set up a successful business and said, ‘Building a positive relationship with everyone is key.’ The students were fully engaged with her life experiences and asked questions at the end of the session as well as taking the opportunity to get a photograph with her!

In the afternoon, students attended an engaging workshop with a guest speaker Moj from the company PUSH. The workshop was called ‘Making a life, not a living’ and it encouraged students to be confident and show resilience. One of the activities included getting a student to participate in front of the year group where they had the option to take a bar of chocolate or wait until the end of the session for a surprise. Student Jasmine chose to wait until the end of the session and was rewarded with a voucher. During the session, Moj also asked students to share their experiences of the day.

Carl Derbyshire, who ran the event, had this to say: ‘I am really proud of all the students who have attended our event. All of the companies really struggled to pick just one student for the job which shows how well they conducted themselves during the day. It has been a day both I and the students won’t forget!’

Overall, the day was a huge success and the students really enjoyed the experience!

Hessle High School and Sixth Form College are proposing an expansion of their Sixth Form College with a new building adjacent to the current Sixth Form College building at the Heads Lane site, to accommodate increasing Sixth Form student numbers. This is considered a ‘’significant change’’ by the Department of Education (DfE) and they are consulting in line with current guidance - further information can be found here on their website.

As we arrive at the end of the first half-term, it’s a good time to look back and reflect on all the events and impact we are making – our newsletter helps us to capture some of these highlights. We hope you enjoy the read!

Staff and learners at schools across The Consortium Academy Trust share the sadness of people throughout the United Kingdom on the death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, who has been an inspirational leader throughout her reign.